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The TennesseanThu, 13 Mar 2014 22:16:58 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6Interview with Music City Bowl president Scott Ramseyhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/vanderbilt/2012/11/15/interview-with-music-city-bowl-president-scott-ramsey/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/vanderbilt/2012/11/15/interview-with-music-city-bowl-president-scott-ramsey/#commentsFri, 16 Nov 2012 00:50:03 +0000Jeff Lockridgehttp://blogs.tennessean.com/vanderbilt/?p=2339Music City Bowl and Nashville Sports Council president Scott Ramsey was kind enough to join me earlier this week to talk about next month’s game and the two teams that could wind up playing on New Year’s Eve in Nashville, including Vanderbilt.

Some of Ramsey’s comments were in today’s story in The Tennessean. Here is the complete transcript of the interview:

Scott Ramsey

Initial thoughts on options for the bowl’s SEC representative …

“It seems to be a really unique in that there seems to be a real tier of teams – six from the SEC in the top 10. That’s unbelievable. Obviously, you’ve got to factor two into the BCS. For all practical purposes, Mississippi State seems to be pulling away a little bit – should they win the last two, anyway – from the (remaining) group (of possibilities). Obviously, I think we’re looking at the group as far as what’s sitting there: Vanderbilt. And then the questions are can Ole Miss, Missouri or Tennessee become bowl eligible and present some options for us? The next couple of weeks we’ll have to wait and see how that kind of plays out, and then just go from there.”

On the allure of Missouri and Ole Miss if they become bowl eligible …

“That’s the mission of the bowl is to bring people from out of town, fill up the hotels and, hopefully between the out-of-towners and in-towners, fill up the stadium. We’ve never varied from that mission, although each year presents unique challenges sometimes on trying to get all three of those goals. I can’t really answer that right now until you know who you’re looking at record-wise. In other words, do you have a couple of 6-6 teams and have Vandy run the table and get 8-4, is that our best pick for this one? I don’t know. And yet we could have a bunch of 6-6 and 7-5 teams. I would say it’s fair to say that the mission is we prefer out-of-state (teams). But at the same time we had a great experience with Vanderbilt (four) years ago and wouldn’t by any means shy away from them if we thought that was the right pick based on records and matchups.”

On whether he would indeed take an 8-4 Vandy team over a six-win Missouri or Ole Miss …

“I’d rather not get that specific until we get to that point. It might also matter who’s on the (ACC) side. We would not shy away from taking Vanderbilt. I think that’s a fair statement. We did it (four) years ago and I think it was a very historic event for our city. And at the same time, the Liberty Bowl picks right behind us and that would be a repeat pick for Vandy. So at the appropriate time, in a week or two, it’s a conversion with (Vanderbilt athletics director) David (Williams) and coach (James) Franklin, and we’ll get their input as well. We’re certainly partners in a lot of ways and a good conversation about their desires would be good input and be very pertinent to our operations as well.”

On if he still coordinates with the Liberty Bowl or SEC on the pick …

“No, it’s our pick straight out. That was the last contract cycle three years ago where we may have done some sharing. But I think everybody tries to be somewhat reasonable if you’re going to force a team to repeat (at the same bowl). But our first goal is to obviously do the best we can for our individual games and individual cities. But we’re certainly cognizant of that as well.”

If the decision comes down to Vandy or Tennessee, who do you take? …

“You know, right now, we don’t really have a position on it other than let it play out. We’ve always said we’d try to do the best we could with trying to catch a fan base and a team that feels excited about coming to Nashville. And it’s not always the case where you can find one given where we select, but that’s always kind of our goal. So at the appropriate time at the end of the season we’ll have to try to make that determination with our committee and make a decision. Right now I think it’s a little premature to try to gauge where you feel everything is between the two programs and which we think would do best in the city and in the stands.”

Do you have any insight that Mississippi State is likely headed to the Gator Bowl? …

“I think that’s a little too strong of a statement. But if they win two games and get to nine wins, if I’m in their shoes, I have a hard time passing on a nine-win SEC team. However, if they split and go 8-4 and you have an 8-4 Vandy that hasn’t gone to a New Year’s Day game and they had Mississippi State a couple of years ago, then I have no idea. But at that time we’ll call them and get a general sense of which way they’re thinking so we can react appropriately. But if State gets to nine wins, I have a hard time believing they wouldn’t (go to the Gator Bowl), but I can’t speak for them in any way.

“You’ve got some toss-up games coming up that could really kind of swing this discussion to where we’ve got a decent pool of three or four teams to choose from, or one team. You don’t know.”

On whether he’s confident they could fill the stadium if Vandy is the selection …

“Every year you have some different factors. But I think with our pre-sale tickets and with the energy that coach Franklin has been driving at Vanderbilt, I feel very confident that we would do very well (filling) the stadium. But just part of it is on Vanderbilt. Part of it is on us as a bowl. Part of it is on the ACC team and they do well and hopefully bring several thousand folks. So it’s a combination of things. But certainly the SEC has been the big driver for us from a fan base standpoint and I would feel very confident that Vanderbilt will do well regardless of where they go.”

On the outlook for the ACC team selection …

“We’re at an odd situation in the Coastal Division with Duke, Miami and Georgia Tech all kind of hovering around 5-5 (Duke is 6-4) and 3-3 or 4-3 in the conference. They all play each other coming out. Duke plays Georgia Tech this week and then Miami next week. Depending on how that Coastal shakes out, I think a couple of those teams could be in our mix. Possibly Virginia Tech. And possibly N.C. State. It seems like a lot of teams right now, but not knowing who wins that one (Coastal) division, that will determine a couple of teams of that group that will probably be in our mix.”

How would a private school like Duke travel? …

“I have no idea. They haven’t been to a bowl game for 18 years. I think everybody is a little intrigued by that, you know? Nobody really has any data, so I think that’s just purely a guess on how they would do. Sometimes that depends on how they finish.”